The Supreme Court of India recently directed a Special Court to grant bail to a woman charged for non-bailable and cognizable offence, observing that the rigours of Section 45(1)(ii) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 ( PMLA Act ) shall not stand effectuated in the matter wherein there is no seemingly near-end of the trial process. In a Criminal Appeal filed by Shashi Bala @ Shashi Bala Singh against the Directorate of Enforcement ( ED ), the appellant, a woman was accused in a complaint filed under Section 44 of the PMLA Act and had been undergoing incarceration since 25th November, 2023. Become a PF & ESIC expert with our comprehensive course – Enroll Now
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Satya Darshi Sanjay, A.S.G., Zoheb Hossain, Annam Venkatesh, Astha Singh, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Aditi Singh and Satya Darshi appeared for ED. ASG Satya Darshi Sanjay submitted before the Apex Court that the proviso to sub-section(1) of Section 45 of the PMLA Act providing for the bail of persons under the age of sixteen years, women or sick or infirm persons in cognizable and non-bailable may not be applicable in the present case.
A Division Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed that charges have been framed against the Appellant and 67 witnesses are yet to be deposed and that the appellant had no similar antecedents. The Apex Court stated that the Special Court undertaking the trial ought to have considered the application as to be under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and granted bail to the arraigned woman.
Furthermore, observing that there is no possibility of the trial to conclude in the near future owing to the long list of witnesses yet to be examined, the Court directed the appellant to be produced before the Special Court within one week wherein the Special Court shall grant bail to the accused on the fulfilment of appropriate terms and conditions. Become a PF & ESIC expert with our comprehensive course – Enroll Now As a note of caution, the Court directed the Appellant to cooperate with the trial process, failing which the ED may apply for cancellation of Bail. Advocates U.K Uniyal, D.K Garg, Dhananjay Garg, Abhishek Garg, Ishita Bist, Neelabh Bist, Sidharth Luthra, M. R. Shamshad, Ankit Yadav, Syed Tamjeed Ahmad, Mihir Joshi, Advait Ghosh, Arijit Sarkar and Shaoni Das represented the Appellant.